The Last Of Us - Uncovered
by WonWon101
Summary: A (very brief) look into the creation of the biological weapon that killed over half the world's population in 2013


An idea for now. But if you enjoy it I'll see if I can ground it more - pls feel free to comment :)

April 5th, 2010

Our team got the call that night. It was a controversial decision, to say the least. Every single one of us were conflicted – we had all tried to resign, despite the fact we had all signed non-disclosures and agreed to perform tasks of the nature of the order. But it wasn't anything we had expected.

Forcing a mindset of resolve in favour of the overpowering ambiguity, I, among my fellow reluctant co-workers, proceeded to work. Bathed in the cold halogen bulbs above, sense of time in the lab had vanished. Demons began their work against my morals. As a scientist, it was easy to blame your work, and even at times vilify it. There have been many times where I have become a victim of projects; a mentality I'd adopted since graduating from University. I'd started work as a forensic scientist for the LAPD, eventually being bumped up to a position in the CIA and then the science department in the Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA), working in liaison with Congress and members of the World Health Organisation. Our work at OCA had all but so far been a positive outlook for the potential health and well-being of humanity. Except now.

Now, we faced a decision that jeopardised our relationship with WHO, a decision that tested our morals, a decision that would change the fate of the world forever. In a world infected with corporate presence and dirty politics, and a world threatened by overpopulation, war and global warming, you could say humanity had passed beyond its point of no return. You could say we had lost ourselves somewhat, in the whirling vortex of dishonesty. We were on the verge of another revolution. And the powers that be had made a choice they believed would guide us to that path, or at least eradicate the one that lay ahead our current course.

Engaging in biological warfare was a predominant threat in the modern world. It was not a common topic discussed with Congress, however it was one of the several proverbial elephants in the room. But what the president was proposing was bold. And our chances of success were minute.

Evan Bennett walked over to me, keeping his voice no quieter than a whisper, "They can't expect this to stay under wraps for long, can they? If anyone from WHO finds out about this…"

"They won't, if we create a means of distracting them," I respond, equally aware of the cameras about the lab, fitted with microphones.

"Yeah, but the longer it takes to develop a weapon, the more chance they'll discover something."

Silence. Bennett and I had been working for OCA for nearly a decade, longer than all the others.

"This is suicide," He breathed, the horror in the rough edges of his voice evident.

I couldn't agree more. To engage in biological warfare was one thing; to engage in self-biological warfare was a whole different matter. The reason for it was to probably help disseminate the virus around the world. The nature of the proposed weapon was anyone's guess. The trouble with our job was you couldn't ask questions of your superiors. You are told to do something; you do it. Our job now was to design a weapon that would effectively reduce the world population, specify it to attack only human beings and expire within a timeframe of half a century. Quite a feat. And for some fucking reason Congress thought that this was the best course of action. Was it an attempt to resolve all world conflict? A chance to reduce carbon emissions? An opportunity for humanity to devolve to evolve? To get back to our roots? Was it a giant fucked up military exercise, preparing the US and the rest of the world for excessive biological warfare? What was Congress plotting?

Isabelle Greenwood, one of our most talented colleagues - certainly the most attractive of the five of us - thirty-four-year-old graduate from Harvard University, emerged from the UV room at the rear of the laboratory. She seemed quite shaken from the announcement, however kept reserved. Her close friend and colleague, Chelsea O'Brien, who followed from the room, was her polar-opposite, and had reacted to the news violently. There were still some remnants of the broken intricate glass instruments on the floor. They left the lab without a word. What was there to say?

In less than a week, we had found an ideal biological weapon. One that would spread quickly, be self-sustaining, and gradually died off. Criteria as such was a horrifying novelty in the science department of the OCA. The more difficult aspect than developing a virus was counteracting with a cure. It was essential that we constantly monitor the progress of the virus, to compensate for potential drawbacks such as a mutation or vaccine developments from outside the OCA. WHO would receive false vaccination reports for the expected outbreak of the virus, whilst a cure would be withheld until it had spent approximately three-quarters of its fifty-year lifespan. As for the weapon itself, we'd turned toward nature.

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, an insect-pathogenising fungus discovered in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, seemed the most effective way of programmatically controlling the growth of our proposed strain. While it did not specifically target any one species, manipulating a version of our own to affect only humans would prove difficult, but not impossible. The cordyceps fungus will reproduce in the laboratory, and often is used to treat coughs, chronic bronchitis, respiratory disorders, kidney disorders, night-time urination, male sexual problems, anaemia, irregular heartbeat, high cholesterol, liver disorders, dizziness, weakness, ringing in the ears, unwanted weight loss, and opium addiction. It was also used for strengthening the immune system, improving athletic performance, reducing the effects of aging, promoting longer life, and improving liver function in people with hepatitis B. Some people used cordyceps as a stimulant, a tonic, and an "adaptogen," which is used to increase energy, enhance stamina, and reduce fatigue, despite its destructive capabilities.

It was a common belief that Cordyceps had the potential to improve immunity by stimulating cells and specific chemicals in the immune system. It may also have activity against cancer cells and may shrink tumour size, particularly with lung or skin cancers. By administrating the virus, eventually human beings would develop stronger immune systems and abuse of medicinal substances would near vanish. Currently found predominantly in tropical forest ecosystems, the cordyceps fungus would prove devastating to a colony of ants should one single ant become infected. By strategically placing our strain in critical areas, the OCA could have spread the virus nationwide within only a few days. Then the whole world in a matter of months.

This would be an informative test in how effective a biological weapon would be against prominent enemies of the United States, as well as preparation for potential future attacks. It would also deliver an opportunity to reduce the chances of mutated pathogens that increasingly posed problems for doctors developing and administrating medicinal substances. Enabling world wide access to medicine had led to people misusing and abusing commonplace drugs such that the pathogens began to resist by mutation. Our weapon would provide us a clean slate.

Tobias Hudson, our fifth member and administrative doctor, seemed the only one of us who made true sense of the situation at hand. It was his job to do so, however the nature of our task could do more than discombobulate the most distinguished scientists. He also seemed like someone who looked at things with an open mind, however disagreeable.

We grew our first batch of cell cultures in late July of 2011. What we discovered was that when exposed to the fluctuating temperatures of outside, the cells died, which meant we would have to administrate the weapon in mostly enclosed, damp places, where fungal growth is prominent, such as subways and underground car parks. These designated places would need to infect enough people that the virus would spread exponentially above ground. To ensure the expected rate of transmission, we mutated the strain to cause behavioural changes within an infected subject, such that they became more aggressive, either passing infection through salivation from biting or expending aerosolised spores that would infect multiple people. We commenced trials on rats; some versions doing nothing, others killing the host without any dissemination. What we needed was to infuse the effectiveness of HIV contraction with the mind-controlling cordyceps fungus.

Over the course of just over a year, our team went through two hundred and sixty-three iterations. We monitored the growth of cordyceps in human brain tissue, understanding the way it behaved, how it targeted and manipulated the brain. Hudson kept revising over and over the rate of growth, learning ways of catalysing and encapsulating the raw power of such a latent weapon. Raw, untapped potential. We were on the verge of discovering something more effectual than the atomic bomb. And shit, did we feel it.

But then 2013 brought us tragedy.

On August 18th, Chelsea O'Brien had accidentally breathed spores from an opened cell culture in the lab. We managed to contain her and remove the spores from the lab. It was well known amongst us that Hudson was working many overnight shifts at the lab, and had mistakenly left a dish of latent cordyceps to grow over a weekend break. Or so, he says. O'Brien and he had gotten into many heated arguments over the course of the project, she clinging to her moral conditioning, he his loyalty to the OCA. Isabelle and I were more passive; Bennett was the peacekeeper. But even he could see our administrator's growing infatuation with the power of the fungus. I was beginning to suspect he'd left the dish out on purpose, in the hope that one of us would contract the virus and serve as a live host. And, however fucked up it was, was what our former beloved colleague Chelsea O'Brien, had become. We took turns monitoring her, but eventually all of us except Tobias gave up. Her aggression had increased astronomically since infection, her humanity deteriorating just as quickly. But you could see the fear, the pain, the suffering behind her eyes, in her agonising cries. We had lost a friend.

Hudson, ever the opportunist, was adamant that O'Brien was vital evidence to convince Congress they had developed a successful weapon, and that they should have a representative come down to inspect their progress. Sickened by his claims, Bennett shot Chelsea and took his own life, just days before inspection. You could imagine Hudson's outrage. Their deaths, he'd said, without a hint of sympathy, were minor setbacks. He hoped to administrate the weapon before the media caught on.

And then, on September 23rd 2013, the weapon went live.

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, a mutated parasitic fungal virus, spread from infected crops to the human species. That afternoon, the pandemic reached from coast to coast in a matter of hours. Authorities had little time to react to the outbreak New York was hit first. In only three hours, San Francisco was inundated. In just seven months, 64% of the global human population was decimated or infected by the virulent cordyceps virus. The speed of diffusion was surreal, as though it was an act of God, not a heavily-scrutinised plan. Cordyceps fungi thrived in enclosed areas, germinating and infecting thousands of unsuspecting people.

And, standing with my remaining colleagues, we watched the end of the world.

We had succeeded.


End file.
